If You Were a Listed on the Share Market Would You Buy Your Stock?

Part of my day to day routine is meeting with BDM’s (business development managers). As you can imagine like any meetings some are zzzzz! and some are great.

One of the best questions a BDM has ever asked me was, “If You Were a Listed on the Share Market, Would You Buy Your Stock?”

I remember staring back blankly as I began imagining a bunch of long faced sceptical analysists pouring over my life, benchmarking me as a business, my personal and financial growth, pulling out a slide rule to measure my routines, efficiencies, asking about my life’s back up plans, satisfaction and plans for growth.

“Sure I would” I replied but the question was so great that I continued to ponder it throughout the rest of the meeting.

So given we’ve just finished reporting season here in Australia I thought it timely to review my own performance through the lens of You Inc.

Risk Management: What safety measures do I have in place to ensure unforeseeable events can be contained?

Growth: How much am I reinvesting back into myself to supporting future earnings?

Process: Do I have a documented plan to support my daily activities and achieve my future projections?

Culture: How inspired and motivated am I and do I enjoy what I do?

Performance: Am I more valuable in my and others eyes than previously?

Projections: What are my expectations and ability to achieve them?

Competitive Advantage: What makes me unique and what are my plans to maintain my uniqueness?

I’m confident that there’s pages and pages more questions analysts ask CEO’s and CFO’s when interviewing them to make their recommendations however I wonder how many and how often of the above questions we ask ourselves?

And before you go jumping all over me, I’m human too. Life is messy and I understand that.

Sometimes instead of going to the gym, which is literally next door to my office, I walk myself over to the supermarket and go consume me some sugar! Some days I begin the day with a long list of to do’s and I never complete one of them. Other days I kick arse!

The bottom line is how confident are you in your abilities and what evidence can you produce to back it up?

So would you and others rate you as a Buy recommendation or a Sell recommendation?

Or would you only take a buy option or worse short you?

Finally how capable are you and can you deliver to your investors within an expected time frame?

If the answer is yes? then congratulations. Not only do you know what you’re worth your odds of becoming more valuable are likely to increase every day. Additionally knowing you have a benchmarking process that holds yourself accountable underscores a culture and mindset of improvement, efficiency, uniqueness and growth.

If however the analyst’s questions made you squirm a little then maybe you’ve got some work to do. It’s not the end of the world, as there’s plenty of listed company turn around stories. Maybe the market is just out of love with you at the moment and with some sweat equity you’ll rise to become the next market darling.

My hope is that you see this little blog as a call to action or even better a report card that’s beaten the analysts’ expectations.

Just remember the best investment is always the one that invests in yourself.

If you are stuck in a funk or you’re lost in a cloud of complexity feel free to contact me. Most often in life we just need someone to talk things through and to lighten our load a little. The following article may also be of help.

This post was written by Peter Horsfield, as such they are his personal views. Peter helps you to focus on what’s most important, the right strategies at the right time. To learn more about How to become Financially Independent visit Peter Horsfield Smart Advice